SONGS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION

SONGS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Blue Eagle String Band to Perform Rare 1930s Songs

As Americans face the challenges of a housing crisis, record fuel costs, and rising inflation, the Blue Eagle String Band from Buffalo, New York will present the music that helped sustain this country’s spirits during a much darker economic era – the Great Depression.

On Monday, July 21 at 6:30 pm., the Blue Eagle String Band will perform songs of the 1930s, the Great Depression and the New Deal years. The performance will take place in the Centerway Square, Corning New York.

Members of the Blue Eagle String Band combed through out-of-print recordings from the 1930s and conducted extensive research at the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution to compile a set of rare songs for the program. Their selections illustrate the resolve of the American people through difficult times, as songs with themes of fear, loss, and uncertainty are coupled with tunes of determination, humorous political and social commentary, and playful camaraderie.

The Blue Eagle String Band consists of Tom Naples on guitar and banjo; Jim Mumm on vocals, guitar, tenor banjo, mandolin, and dobro; and one-time Corning resident Lorna MacDonald Czarnota as storyteller and vocalist.

This program represents a sampling from the band’s multimedia presentation titled “Whose Names are Unknown” which incorporates images, narrative and live music, along with other popular music of the 1930s. “Whose Names are Unknown” is available for schools and museums.

This program was scheduled through Marich Music on East Market Street and is sponsored by a grant through Corning’s Gaffer District.